azk@ece-csc.UUCP (Anwer Kotob) (11/05/87)
Hello out there: I have the following problem: In the course of updating from DOS 2.1 to DOS 3.1, I did the following: 1- erased IBMBIOS.COM and IBMDOS.COM from the harddisk, 2- did some more deleting and copying, 3- then tried to do: SYS C: what I got is a message saying that there is no room for the system on C: The HD was formatted (when first bought) using the /S flag and used to boot up just fine (with DOS 2.1). Also, the drive still has lots of space left. The two system files need to be in the first two entries in the directory, so my guess is that those two entries were allocated to another file while copying to the HD. Is there a way to remedy this short of backing/formatting/restoring? Thanks in advance, -Anwer.
nguyen@amd.AMD.COM (Quinn Nguyen) (11/06/87)
In article <3418@ece-csc.UUCP>, azk@ece-csc.UUCP (Anwer Kotob) writes: > > I have the following problem: In the course of updating from DOS 2.1 > to DOS 3.1, I did the following: > 1- erased IBMBIOS.COM and IBMDOS.COM from the harddisk, > 2- did some more deleting and copying, > 3- then tried to do: SYS C: > > what I got is a message saying that there is no room for the system on C: >> Thanks in advance, > Boot up your system with DOS 3.1 from drive A, then transfer the DOS's system files to C: by doing the followings: - From A, type: sys c: after system files got transfer to C, do - Copy all DOS files from floopy A to the directory in drive C where you have all the DOS files of the old version. - Check the "config.sys" and "autoexec.bat" to make sure all device drivers and command syntax compatibility of the two versions. - Make sure the new "command.com" is replaced if you keep it in the root directory. Good luck!
aja@i.cc.purdue.edu (Mike Rowan) (11/08/87)
In article <3418@ece-csc.UUCP>, azk@ece-csc.UUCP (Anwer Kotob) writes: > Hello out there: > I have the following problem: In the course of updating from DOS 2.1 > to DOS 3.1, I did the following: > 1- erased IBMBIOS.COM and IBMDOS.COM from the harddisk, > 2- did some more deleting and copying, > 3- then tried to do: SYS C: > > what I got is a message saying that there is no room for the system on C: > > The HD was formatted (when first bought) using the /S flag and used to boot > up just fine (with DOS 2.1). Also, the drive still has lots of space left. > I had some problems a couple of years (?? that long!?) ago. I think there is an incompatability between [12].X and 3.X. The booting programs need to be in certian places and I think that 3.X wont fit where 2.x left off. i finally just backed everything off (its easy with a maxtor!) and re-formated. (try the 3.3 format -- its a blast!) Now this is a LONG way around and there are shorter ways if you know where on the disk the boot files need to be, just get rid of whats there. I dont know exactly where this is though and reformating took lots less time than digging up stuff like that (espescially without net access). Hope this helps :-) mike (aja@i.cc.purdue.edu)
cuddy@convex.UUCP (11/09/87)
>> In article <3418@ece-csc.UUCP>, azk@ece-csc.UUCP (Anwer Kotob) writes: >> >> I have the following problem: In the course of updating from DOS 2.1 >> to DOS 3.1, I did the following: >> 1- erased IBMBIOS.COM and IBMDOS.COM from the harddisk, >> 2- did some more deleting and copying, >> 3- then tried to do: SYS C: >> >> what I got is a message saying that there is no room for the system on C: >>> Thanks in advance, >> >Boot up your system with DOS 3.1 from drive A, then transfer the >DOS's system files to C: by doing the followings: > >- From A, type: sys c: >after system files got transfer to C, do >- Copy all DOS files from floopy A to the directory in drive C >where you have all the DOS files of the old version. >- Check the "config.sys" and "autoexec.bat" to make sure all >device drivers and command syntax compatibility of the two versions. >- Make sure the new "command.com" is replaced if you keep it >in the root directory. WAIT!!!!! Don't take this advice.... when you change DOS versions, you MUST reformat the ENTIRE DISK. (a low level format is not needed, but a DOS level format is!) if you do not, you will screw yourself beyond all belief... you see, DOS 3.x uses 2k clusters (the smallest block of data that can be written) and DOS 2.x uses 8k clusters.. When you boot up with 3.x, if it even recognizes a hard disk with 2.x it will clobber it if you access the drive. ALSO: when you back up your hard disk, DO NOT back up the DOS 2.1 programs (DISKCOPY.COM, FORMAT.COM, CHKDSK.COM, .... etc. ) because although most of them check to see which DOS version you are currently using, some don't and try to read/write >2k clusters and WHAMMO! they clobber your drive... REMEMBER: when upgrading DOS versions (major versions) you MUST reformat! I have been zapped by this: and have helped a great many customers with thier check books as a service tech @ a computer store to help them fix the problem/recover their data from this accident! /* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */ DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in the above text are written in stone. (although this doesn't mean they are correct, mine, or anybody elses so there! !inhp1!convex!cuddy - Mike Cuddy, CONVEX Computer Corp. Richardson, Texas /* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
brian@prism.UUCP (11/09/87)
If you are going from dos 2.x to 3.x, you have to:
1) back up your entire hard disk
2) reformat your hard disk using dos 3.x (boot from the floppies)
3) put all your files back on.
DOS 3.x uses 16bit fat entries, whereas dos 2.x uses 12 bits. That's why
dos 3.x couldn't recognize the space left on the disk when you put it on --
it was attempting to deal with 12bit fat's. To recover your disk right now,
you must boot dos 2.x in the floppy drive, sys drive c: with 2.x, put command
.com back on, and start from there again.
----
Brian K. Moran -- brian@mirror.TMC.COM
UUCP : {mit-eddie, ihnp4!inmet, wjh12, cca, datacube}!mirror!brian
ARPA : brian@mgm.mit.edu
TryThis: brian@mirror.zone1.com
(we forward for .zone1.com)
Mirror Systems 2067 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA, 02140
Telephone: 617-661-0777 extension 122
"17.82 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot."
---Cynthia_M_Lloyd@cup.portal.com (11/10/87)
Did you boot your PC from the DOS 3.1 diskette? I had difficulty of same kind going from DOS 3.0 to 3.2 and came to the conclusion that the new BIOS files took more space than the old 3.0 files did. I never found a way for SYS C: to work with these two releases, however, I have done it many times with 2.1 to 3.0 (work in a corporate information center). I would suggest doing a SYS C: from your 2.1 diskette ... thus putting back the original IBMBIOS.COM and IBMDOS.COM files (have never erased those prior to updating DOS) and then try the SYS C: after booting from DOS 3.1 diskette.
dale@lamont.LDGO.Columbia.edu (dale chayes) (11/14/87)
I order to run SUN's PC-NFS in my ancient compaq (with new roms) and a hard disk, I had to upgrade from Compaq's 2.1 to 3.1. After booting from a Compaq 3.1 floppy and SYSing C:, I found that my entire C: drive was scrambled. After poking around a bit, I gave up and reformatted the disk and started over..... I suspect that I could have saved a bit of time by reading my manual, but who has time for that any more? -- are we having fun yet?....
guardian@laidbak.UUCP (11/19/87)
In article <208@clipper.lamont.LDGO.Columbia.edu> dale@lamont.UUCP writes: > >After poking around a bit, I gave >up and reformatted the disk and started over..... > >I suspect that I could have saved a bit of time by reading my >manual, but who has time for that any more? Kinda' reminds me of - Never have time to do it right but I have time to do it over.... sun......_ .---------. amdahl....\ : .-. : spl1.......==-!laidbak!guardian : `-'o : masscomp../ : O : ihnp4..._/ `---------' The Far Seek ... Tales from the bad sector. scene: little boy looking up at the system administrator, screwdriver in hand and machine completely disassembled. "...but my daddy said there were some shells in here!"
David_J_Buerger@cup.portal.com (12/02/87)
A few people have written concerning updating a hard disk from DOS 2.x to DOS 3.x. Yes, you must reformat the hard disk with 3.x to take advantage of the 2K cluster size, BUT only AFTER you remove the DOS 2.x partition(s) with the DOS 2.x FDISK program, and then create a new partition(s) with the DOS 3.x FDISK program. If you simply reformat the DOS 2.x hard disk with DOS 3.x you will not get the smaller cluster size. DOS 2.x's cluster size is 8K. David J. Buerger dbuerger@scu.bitnet
mdf@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark D. Freeman) (12/03/87)
In <63200007@convex> cuddy@convex.UUCP writes: > WAIT!!!!! Don't take this advice.... when you change DOS versions, you MUST > reformat the ENTIRE DISK. (a low level format is not needed, but a DOS level > format is!) if you do not, you will screw yourself beyond all belief... > you see, DOS 3.x uses 2k clusters (the smallest block of data that can be written) and DOS 2.x uses 8k clusters.. When you boot up with 3.x, if it even recognizes a hard disk with 2.x it will clobber it if you access the drive. > ALSO: when you back up your hard disk, DO NOT back up the DOS 2.1 programs > (DISKCOPY.COM, FORMAT.COM, CHKDSK.COM, .... etc. ) because although most of > them check to see which DOS version you are currently using, some don't and > try to read/write >2k clusters and WHAMMO! they clobber your drive... This is good advice and almost correct. When upgrading from DOS 2.X to 3.X you must do the following: 1) Backup (BACKUP.COM) the hard disk under 2.X 2) FDISK the hard disk under 2.X, releasing the DOS partition. 3) Reboot under 3.X 4) FDISK the hard disk under 3.X, assigning it all to a DOS partition. 5) FORMAT the hard disk (/s) under 3.X 6) RESTORE (/p) the hard disk from floppy under 3.X, answering NO to all questions it may ask 7) DEL all DOS 2.X command files 8) COPY the 3.X command files to the hard disk -- Mark D. Freeman (614) 262-3703 StrongPoint Systems, Inc. mdf@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu 2440 Medary Avenue ...!cbosgd!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mdf Columbus, OH 43202-3014 Guest account at The Ohio State University
dab@whuts.UUCP (12/03/87)
In article <2681@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>, mdf@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark D. Freeman) writes: > When upgrading from DOS 2.X to 3.X you must do the following: > > 1) Backup (BACKUP.COM) the hard disk under 2.X NO I don not recommend DOS backup to anyone!! Too flaky. Try some other backup programs - FASTBACK (yeah I know, but I never had a problem with it, although I didn't do it on RLL drives) or some such package. > 2) FDISK the hard disk under 2.X, releasing the DOS partition. > 3) Reboot under 3.X Try to low level format with a better interleave, if you are gonna erase everyuthing, why not try for better disk performance? In this case, you don't have to fdisk ,remove old partition,fdisk,partition format. just low-level, fdisk, format. > 4) FDISK the hard disk under 3.X, assigning it all to a DOS > partition. > 5) FORMAT the hard disk (/s) under 3.X > 6) RESTORE (/p) the hard disk from floppy under 3.X, answering NO > to all questions it may ask > 7) DEL all DOS 2.X command files > 8) COPY the 3.X command files to the hard disk > When re-fromat, put DOS in disk - format c:/S if you are using a different backup package than DOS's, it'll probably ask you when it runs up against programs of same name. you oughta be able to tell it to kee what is on the disk. -- Cogito Ergo Zoom Chaste makes waste "Intelligence without character is a dangerous thing" (G. Steinem) Dave B. (no relation to Adam West) {ihnp4,allegra,ulysses}!whuts!dab
brianc@cognos.uucp (Brian Campbell) (12/07/87)
In article <63200007@convex> cuddy@convex.UUCP writes: ! ! >> In article <3418@ece-csc.UUCP>, azk@ece-csc.UUCP (Anwer Kotob) writes: ! >> I have the following problem: In the course of updating from DOS 2.1 ! >> to DOS 3.1, I did the following: ! >> 1- erased IBMBIOS.COM and IBMDOS.COM from the harddisk, ! >> 2- did some more deleting and copying, It is the second step you did that probably killed your chances. SYS expects to copy the system files to the very beginning of the drive, and it wants to use the first two directory entries for the names of the system files. The extra copying and deleting you did may have affected this. ! >> 3- then tried to do: SYS C: ! >> ! >> what I got is a message saying that there is no room for the system on C: ! >>> Thanks in advance, ! >> ! >Boot up your system with DOS 3.1 from drive A, then transfer the ! >DOS's system files to C: by doing the followings: ! > ! >- From A, type: sys c: ! >after system files got transfer to C, do ! >- Copy all DOS files from floopy A to the directory in drive C ! >where you have all the DOS files of the old version. ! >- Check the "config.sys" and "autoexec.bat" to make sure all ! >device drivers and command syntax compatibility of the two versions. ! >- Make sure the new "command.com" is replaced if you keep it ! >in the root directory. ! ! WAIT!!!!! Don't take this advice.... when you change DOS versions, you MUST ! reformat the ENTIRE DISK. (a low level format is not needed, but a DOS level ! format is!) if you do not, you will screw yourself beyond all belief... ! you see, DOS 3.x uses 2k clusters (the smallest block of data that can be written) and DOS 2.x uses 8k clusters.. When you boot up with 3.x, if it even recognizes a hard disk with 2.x it will clobber it if you access the drive. ! ALSO: when you back up your hard disk, DO NOT back up the DOS 2.1 programs ! (DISKCOPY.COM, FORMAT.COM, CHKDSK.COM, .... etc. ) because although most of ! them check to see which DOS version you are currently using, some don't and ! try to read/write >2k clusters and WHAMMO! they clobber your drive... While I would agree that it is wise to reformat the entire disk with the new DOS format program, I do not agree with the reasoning here. Firstly, DOS 3.x can handle 2k, 4k or 8k clusters quite readily. Try formatting a 10 M partition with DOS 3.x and see what size cluster you get ... DOS 2.x wasn't the only version that used 8k clusters. I also do not know of any DOS utilities that depend on cluster size that do not check it specifically. I've been using 1k clusters, under DOS 3.1 and DOS 3.3, for months without any problems. ! REMEMBER: when upgrading DOS versions (major versions) you MUST reformat! ! I have been zapped by this: and have helped a great many customers with ! thier check books as a service tech @ a computer store to help them fix the ! problem/recover their data from this accident! This is still good advice ... -- Brian Campbell uucp: decvax!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!brianc Cognos Incorporated mail: POB 9707, 3755 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, K1G 3Z4 (613) 738-1440 fido: (613) 731-2945 300/1200, sysop@1:163/8